The Greenville Revitalization Corporation said it received a $43,000 grant from the Greenville Textile Heritage Society and a letter of support from the Greenville Soil and Water Conservation District for the Textile Heritage Park project it is developing in the Monaghan community.
When completed, the park will contain walking trails with alcoves dedicated to the history of individual mills; an event shelter; a recreation area; wildflowers and a neighborhood garden; and an outdoor classroom for study of the area’s natural wildlife and foliage.
“This is such a great example of what can happen when the public and private sectors work together to improve our county,” said Wil Brasington, GRC’s board chairman. “While our work to secure additional funding is not over, we can now begin the clearance of the land.”
The grant and letter of support cement its partnership with those organizations to build the park, GRC officials said.
To date, GRC has collected about one-third of the funds needed to complete the park and additional grants are pending, organization officials said.
Plans call for clearing the land once a permit is received from the Greenville County Land Development Office. That is expected by the end of the month, GRC officials said.
“We are so excited that Greenville will now have a lasting memorial to the great textile industry that once dominated the industrial climate of the entire upstate of South Carolina,” said Don Harkins, president of the Greenville Textile Heritage Society. “This joint venture with GRC is a means to what was once a mere dream and now will become a reality.”
The Monaghan neighborhood is home to a productive urban wildlife habitat, including a small stream that runs along the side of the park and flows into the nearby Reedy River.
Soil and water conversation officials will donate signage along the stream to teach park goers about storm water, water quality, river ecology and other messages to raise awareness of and help protect Greenville’s waterways.
